Abu Mazen Resigned

[Eli]

[Az]

Re: Abu Mazen Resigned

Originally posted by Eli

"Another one bites the dust" -Yasser Arafat.

[The Mad Monk]

Posted on Sat, Sep. 06, 2003

Abbas plans to resign, Palestinians say
Prime minister may think move could force hands of U.S., Israel
JAMES BENNET
New York Times

JERUSALEM - Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister favored by the Bush administration and Israel as an alternative to Yasser Arafat as an agent of Middle East peace, plans to announce today he is resigning, four senior Palestinian officials say.

Late Friday, some Palestinian officials were trying to persuade Abbas to change his mind. He has previously threatened to quit without following through.

But associates of Abbas said he had concluded there was no other way to break what has become a crippling cycle of confrontation and compromise with Arafat and other leaders of the dominant Fatah movement. This way, the associates said, Arafat, under international pressure, might feel forced to bring back Abbas, or another prime minister, with guaranteed authority.

"It's the only way forward," a senior Palestinian official said. "We basically have come to a dead end here."

In the current stalemate between the two Palestinian leaders, Abbas is demanding full control of all the Palestinian security services. But Arafat, the president of the governing Palestinian Authority, has balked at yielding it.

The senior Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Abbas faced days of debate about the security issue in the Palestinian Parliament, followed by a likely but temporary compromise that would only again postpone the confrontation with Arafat. Abbas appears to be calculating that his resignation will compel not only Arafat but also Israel and the Bush administration to take bold steps to save the peace effort.

Palestinian legislators have said Bush administration officials warned them in recent days that if Abbas' government collapsed, the White House might walk away from the peace plan, known as the road map. Israeli and Palestinian officials view the administration as increasingly distracted by the occupation of Iraq and the coming presidential campaign.

The Parliament is scheduled to meet today in closed session in the West Bank city of Ramallah to consider the standoff between the men. Abbas was expected to announce his resignation at midday, also in Ramallah. It was not clear whether he would do so before the legislators.

Some officials said Abbas was shaken by the appearance at the Parliament building on Thursday of masked men, who pounded on the doors and condemned his leadership. Dozens of young men demonstrating outside the building chanted that Abbas' security minister, Muhammad Dahlan, was a collaborator with the CIA.

Further eroding Abbas' confidence, 18 Palestinian legislators moved for a no-confidence vote to be taken on Abbas' government. That vote has not yet been scheduled.

Abbas appeared to be motivated mostly by a decision that a rude jolt was needed to revive the peace effort.

The Bush administration has refused to deal with Arafat since June 2002, acceding to Israel's policy of isolating him.

Reluctantly, Arafat appointed Abbas prime minister in the spring. After a fierce legislative battle over the extent of the prime minister's authority, Abbas was confirmed by the Parliament on April 29.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/6705296.htm

[Spiffor]

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[Sikander]

Did Schwarzenegger give him the "Resign or be fired!" line or what?

[Eli]

The IAF just missed Sheik Ahmed Yassin in Gaza. He's lightly wounded.

[Eli]

Well, at least Ismail al-Henia appears to be dead.

[Kuciwalker]

[Az]

****. we missed both of them.

well, at least no casualties of civilians.

[Eli]

I dont get it. The dude is an 80 years old paraplegic in a wheel chair, how on earth could they miss him?

[Az]

timetables, eli, timetables.

He just sati in the car when they struck the building.

[PLATO]

Arafats time needs to end. Do what you need to do Israel.

[Az]

I'd like that in a written form, PLATO.

[BeBMan]

Originally posted by Eli
I dont get it. The dude is an 80 years old paraplegic in a wheel chair, how on earth could they miss him?

Yeah, my confidence in the IDF is going down....

[Ecthy]

Eli, I've been wondering how it can be so hard to kill a guy like Yassin for years anyway.